With just 2% of votes separating the top two bands - today we focus on the Best Blues Rock Performance in our 2016 WRC Awards. In May we caught Big Boy Bloater & The Limits (pictured) awesome gig at London's iconic 100 Club. Fast forward four months later and we were at the Half Moon, Putney, to see Sari Schorr & The Engine Room lift its roof off! Finally, Born Healer had the honour of kicking off BluesRockFest at the end of September - their memorable set the perfect start on a brilliant day! So there you have it - if you want to cast your vote for one of these awesome bands then simply go here!

Today's Track Of The Day is a very special Rock On The Ridge Christmas show with The Darkness, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, E.L.O., Queen, The Stone Roses, Wizzard, The Mentulls (pictured), Will Wilde, Deep Purple, Oasis, Status Quo, Paul McCartney, Greg Lake, The Who, Genesis, Black Label Society, Iron Maiden, Black Stone Cherry, Black Country Communion, Big Train, Micki Free and Sean Taylor.

Nik Barrell (Vid Of The Day) grew up in West London with Blues, Rock ’n’ Roll and R&B, and is now a Blues artist based in Brighton working in the Blues/Country genre and although Nik does perform Classic Blues, he also writes original music. Indeed his education manifests itself in his latest album 'Growing Peaches In Oxfordshire' with clear strains of Buddy Holly, the Beach Boys, and the chirpy New Orleans Blues tradition. The band uses a simple, stripped-back instrument combination, without drums or amplification, along with smooth melodies and sprightly rhythms. Barrell’s sincere, troubadour-like crooning and guitar are accompanied by James Fiddes Smith’s chiming mandolin and backing vocals. Mark Strains provides the spine on double bass, Alan Grice plays wondrous piano and Tim Cotterell adds a touch of melancholy on violin. It’s all finished off with the beautiful tones of Sharon Lewis, Anjuli Hararah and Vanessa Thomas on backing vocals. Nik is also planning to play festivals over the Summer.

With the two top bands currently in a percentage dead-heat - our Best Rock Performance category is still up for grabs in our 2016 WRC Awards. Nominees are Jeff Lynne's ELO who we caught over two night's at London's O2 Arena in April, plus Pottsville's very own Crobot who we saw headlining Islington's O2 Academy in June, with the final nominees being Inglorious (pictured) who we saw rock the Ramblin' Man Fair main stage in late July! So there you have it - if you want to cast your vote for one of these outstanding Rock bands then simply go here!

Today's Black On Blues Track Of The Day is their Christmas Special featuring tracks from Val Starr & The Blues Rocket, Katie Webster, Koko Taylor, Lil Ed & The Blues Imperials, Little Charlie & The Nightcats, Marcia Ball, A Roomful Of Blues, Shemekia Copeland, The Holmes Brothers, Tinsley Ellis, Sonny Boy Williamson, Clifton Chewier and Laura Beadle.

We first introduced you to Swampgrass (Vid Of The Day) in March 2015 - so we were delighted to get an update recently from guitarist Brad Lister. Reviews of their debut CD 'One Eye Open' released in March this year were very favourable and they have now slimmed down to a four piece, losing the harmonica to focus on a broader space and raw sound. The guys are also touring at least twice next year (late March/early April and late August/early September) as well as a few shorter long weekend style jaunts around the country!

It was a new venue for the WRC - but what a great night we had at the beginning of December at The Dome in Tufnell Park - principally for Bad Touch's album launch of 'Truth Be Told'. Supporting headliners Whiskey Myers they completed a storming 45 minute set which included all but one track from the new album namely: 'Heartbreaker Soulshaker', 'My Mother Told Me', 'Waiting For This', 'Under My Skin', 'Wise Water' (from debut album 'Half Way Home'), '99%' and 'The Mountain'. Indeed Bad Touch are one of three bands nominated in our Best Support category in our 2016 WRC Awards. The others being Dirty Thrills who we saw supporting Crobot at Islington's O2 Academy in June and Monster Truck who we saw support Nickelback at London's O2 Arena in October. So there you have it - if you want to cast your vote for one of these awesome support bands then simply go here!

Canadian Alt-Rock outfit Bleeker, have announced their brand new album, 'Erase You' (Track Of The Day), is due for UK release on Friday 10th February via Five Seven Music. 'Erase You' is Rock ‘n Roll to its core, highlighted by catchy lyrics and hip-quaking beats. The album captures the same fun-spirited attitude as Bleeker’s acclaimed self-titled EP, released earlier this year, which includes the tracks ‘Highway’, 'Free' and ‘Where’s Your Money’. Based just outside of Toronto, Bleeker – comprised of brothers Taylor Perkins (vocals) and Cole Perkins (guitars), with childhood friend Mike Van Dyk (bass) – have been captivating their native country with high-profile TV and radio appearances. The band are now planning to leave their imprint on the rest of the world with relentless touring and future singles to be released!

ust when you thought that things could not got get any worse re: music icons we have loved and lost during 2016 - wrong! Firstly, we hold our hands up and admit that Wham! have not featured a lot on our WRC website over the years but there is no doubt that the duo's '80's success followed by George Michael's outstanding solo career - particularly his stand-out album 'Faith' - made George a musical legend - as testified by everyone's utter devastation to the news of his death aged just 53 on Christmas Day. Today's Vid Of The Day is therefore dedicated to George - concrete evidence of his versatility, star quality plus an amazing voice. RIP George Michael.

Today in our 2016 WRC Awards, we turn our attention back to the nominees in our Best Tribute category. Firstly, we go back to late October and 'An Evening For Jack' at the newly reopened Shepherd's Bush Empire, which marked the two year anniversary of the late Cream bassist Jack Bruce's passing in 2014, aged 71. Created and produced by Queen’s Roger Taylor, we saw the Queen Extravaganza (pictured) at the Hammersmith Apollo towards the end of November, ending a special UK tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of Queen’s iconic album, ‘A Night At The Opera’. Six days later at Wrinklystock V at Dartford's Mick Jagger Centre we saw headliners Limehouse Lizzy well and truly keeping the spirit of Thin Lizzy alive. So there you have it - if you want to cast your vote for one of these outstanding Tribute's then simply go here!

The last time we interviewed Nashville's SIMO was at Camden's Barfly eight month's ago - shortly after JD dislocated his knee at a gig in Paris! So we were delighted to catch up once again with JD, Adam and Elad recently before their Planet Rock Roadstars tour gig with Federal Charm and Aaron Keylock at Islington's O2 Academy. Rest assured there were no chairs in sight this time as SIMO grasped the venue by the throat and treated us to virtually a fresh set of new songs from their forthcoming album. Anyway check out our brand new Wrinklycast here which is also today's Track Of The Day!

Today we introduce the Zoe Green Band (Vid Of The Day) who stormed the Blues Rock scene in 2014 and quickly became known for their explosive performances and creative covers. Since then, the band has grown and become an originals outfit, currently writing their first EP due to be launched in early January 2017 - just in time for their performance at The Great British Blues and Rock Festival. Zoe has a super tight band behind her punching out their Blues-Funk songs such as 'Rise Up', 'Going To The Grave', 'Catch A Fall' and 'Double Truth Woman'. The members are a formidable mix of musicians: Drums - Ian Haughton (Steel Pulse, Ruby Turner, Bitty McLean, B'spoke) Bass - Derek Lawrence (B'spoke) and Guitar - James Stanley (DC Fontana, Little Boy Blue, B'spoke). And with Zoe delivering her own unique blend of powerful yet sultry vocal, her energetic and expressive performance is guaranteed to leave you wanting more....